Spring Branch ISD shines at District 17-6A cross country meet

Grace Custer, of Houston Stratford, competes in the Class 6A girls race during the UIL State Cross Country Championships at Old Settlers Park, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, in Round Rock.

Grace Custer, of Houston Stratford, competes in the Class 6A girls race during the UIL State Cross Country Championships at Old Settlers Park, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, in Round Rock.

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

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Grace Custer, of Houston Stratford, competes in the Class 6A girls race during the UIL State Cross Country Championships at Old Settlers Park, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, in Round Rock.

Grace Custer, of Houston Stratford, competes in the Class 6A girls race during the UIL State Cross Country Championships at Old Settlers Park, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, in Round Rock.

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

Spring Branch ISD shines at District 17-6A cross country meet

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Spring Branch ISD teams were running on a familiar home course Oct. 11 at Nottingham Park, also site of the annual SBISD Invitational.

The latter name could have applied to the District 17-6A meet, as Stratford, Memorial and Spring Woods combined for five of the six possible qualifying spots for the Region III-6A championships, set for Oct. 22 at Kate Barr Ross Memorial Park in Huntsville.

Stratford swept the team championships, continuing a girls dynasty and providing a minor upset in the boys race. Memorial was the runner-up in both standings. The most pleasant surprise for the district might have come from third place in the girls race, as Spring Woods earned its first regional trip in five years.

“It was unbelievable,” Spring Woods junior Catrina Pardo said. “We’ve come so far to get where we are. It’s been amazing and it’s all thanks to coach (Zach) Morgan and coach (Melissa) Pabon. We have some new incoming and some freshmen. We tried to recruit people during cross country, so it’s building.”

The Tigers were led by Pardo, Vaniah Barrera and Britney Bulux in the top 20. Pardo finished the five-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 41.49 seconds for seventh place, which would have earned one of the 10 individual regional berths had the team not qualified.

“I have never been to regionals,” Pardo said. “Once I crossed that line, I heard ‘seven’ and I was like ‘wait, what?’ I really didn’t know. I never expected for this to happen.”

Memorial junior William Jackson won the boys individual championship with a time of 16:26.67, merely a second off of his personal record set earlier this season. Jackson, John Morico, Connor Davis and Benjamin Sarenas gave the Mustangs four runners in the top 13.

Though their 58 points was eight behind rival Stratford, a Mustangs squad filled with upperclassmen is prepared for a strong regional meet, perhaps seeking one of the four state berths a year after ending their season at the district level.

“It was something we’ve had on the calendar pretty much since the beginning of the season,” Jackson said. “We were really looking forward to it. This has been the marquee event. I’m so proud of them. They’ve worked so hard this season. I think we’re going to have a good showing at regionals. The goal was to make it there but we’re not done yet.”

Stratford looks to be in the mix after a 17-6A title, led by runner-up Tyler Egger’s time of 16:35.00. Emanuel Galdino and Nate Learussa finished fifth and seventh, respectively, to help lead the Spartans to victory.

Ironically, Egger was unsatisfied with his own performance but praised his teammates for an impressive collective race. The Spartans, who won consecutive state titles in 2014 and 2015, are back on top of the district.

“Actually, I feel like I underperformed a little bit,” Egger said. “I was actually ranked to get first. But overall it was a pretty good race. Our team ended up winning. The team really came together and really showed up today. It was awesome. We were ranked fourth and we finished first going into regionals. Next is state.”

Memorial senior Fiona Bremner seeks her third trip to the state championships. This time she could have more company, with her team running closer to full strength.

The Mustangs scored 42 points to finished behind only Stratford’s 27 in the district standings and produced solid times through the lineup, highlighted by Bremner runner-up 18:45.20 and a third-place 18:53.81 from junior Blakeley Buckingham. Chandler Gartner gave Memorial a third top-10 finisher.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Bremner said. “I think we did really well. We’ve run this course before so we know what to expect. I just think everyone pushed themselves to get to where we got.”

An experienced Stratford group entered as the favorite for the district meet and did not disappoint, placing all five scoring runners in the top 10. Grace Custer was the individual champion with a time of 18:24.14, followed by Fay Gibb, Jana Mahlich, Hope Sage and Ella Gibb.

The Spartans ran mostly as expected on a fast home course.

“I was planning on running a little faster, but I’m not disappointed either,” Mahlich said.

Stratford turns its attention toward the rest of the postseason, with several runners from the same lineup that advanced to state in 2016 and 2017. The Spartans rose seven spots to fifth last fall, led by Custer’s 15th-place finish. Another improved effort would put them in the running for the 6A crown.

“I definitely know we’re in contention,” Custer said. “It’s going to come down to who wants it more on that given day and who races harder on that specific day.”